Apparatus for coating wire



(No Model.) Y

' L.-L. SMITH.

APPARATUS-FOR GOATING WIRE.

Patented May 1, 1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 276,914, dated May 1, 1883.

Application filed February 7, 1883. (No model.)

[[ all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 'I, LUTHER L. SMITH, of Ansonia, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inApparatus for Coating Wire; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with accompanying drawin gs and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification,and represent, 1n-

Figure 1, a transverse section of the rack; Fig. 2, a longitudinalsection; Fig. 3, a side view, showing the convolutions of wire standingbetween the teeth.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for coating wireinvented by me, and for which Letters Patent were granted to me May 17,188i, No. 241,742., In that invention, the essential feature of whichconsists in feeding the wire which is to be plated successively throughthe electrolytic solution in a helical path, the several convolutions ofthe coil being partially or wholly submerged in the electrolyticsolution, and being made to rotate upon a horizontal axis, whereby themotion of the wire in passing through the solution is substantially likethat of the thread of a screw which is being inserted into or drawn froma stationary object. In that apparatus I arranged wooden racks, theteeth of which projectinto thespaces between the convo-- lutions of thewire which is to be plated,so as to separate or prevent the contact ofthe successive convolutions. The spaces between the convolutions arenecessarily very narrow;

hence the wooden teeth must be proportionately thin. In practice I havefound that the movement of the wire between these teeth, in

connection with the solution which they draw up to the wood, and whichis absorbed by the wood, quickly destroys the wood teeth, so that theyfail to perform their necessary oflice.

To overcome this difticnlty is the object of my improvement; and itconsists in a rack composed of a base with glass or equivalentnon-conducting material teeth setin the base, as more fully hereinafterdescribed.

A represents the base, which is made from wood or other suitablematerial, and in the upper surface of which is a groove, a, preferabl yof dovetail shape. Into this groove short pieces of glass, b, are set,the pieces corresponding in width substantially to the width of thegroove, and between the successive pieces of glass a wood block, 01, isplaced in the groove, corresponding in shape to the dovetail shape ofthe groove, so that the block will be readily retained in its place toseparate each glass tooth from the next, the thickness of the blockbeing little greater than the diameter of the wire which is'to ridebetween the teeth, as seen in Fig. 3. This rack or section of glassteeth extends the length of the bath, so that each convolution of wirethroughout the bath stands in its own independent space between theteeth, and as the wire is advanced the convolutions pass between theteeth like a screw in its no t. By making the teeth of glass, perfectinsulation is attained, and because of the separate and independentteeth thus produced any one may be readily removed when broken, or forother purposes, replaced, or a new tooth introduoed,without interruptingthe work, and thus being made of ahard material they do not absorb themoisture brought to them by the revolving wire; neither do they wearaway by contact with the wire, as in the case of wood teeth.

What I claim as an improvement on my invention'patented May 17, 1881,is-

1. In an apparatus for coating wire, the herein-described rack forseparating the convolutions of wire, consisting of a base provided withglass or equivalent material teeth 11, between which teeth theconvolntions of the wire pass, substantially as described.

2. The base A, having a longitudinai groove in its surface, with glassor equivalent material teeth b set in said groove, with blocks clbetween successive teeth, substantially as described.

3. The base A, constructed with a longitudinal dovetail-shaped groove,teeth I), set in said groove, and blocks 01, of dovetail shape,corresponding to the groovein the base and set between the successiveteeth, substantially as described.-

LUTHER L. SMITH.

Witnesses:

F. L. GAYLORD, GEORGE H..HAWLEY.

